19th May 2024: Middleton to A66 Layby – 11.5 miles
When I checked in last night, I’d explained to Clare that I was going to have an early start. I think our versions of ‘early’ were a little way apart as she offered me a 7.30 breakfast. I explained that I was hoping to be out of the door no later than 7am and I really didn’t want to put her out, especially on a Sunday – and as long as she didn’t mind me creeping out the door that early, I didn’t mind skipping a cooked breakfast. I think we then got our wires crossed, I was trying to say I’d have a brew in my room and I’d picked up something from the Co-op to go with it – and I now realise she was saying she’d leave something out for me in the dining room.
I’ve been re-watching the final series of the IT Crowd, so I managed to watch about half of one episode before I fell asleep last night. I didn’t set an alarm, but I was pretty much wide awake by 5.30, and I packed up as quietly as I could, so as not to disturb the folk in the next room. The sink and the toilet both run into a Saniflow system, so even running the water, never mind flushing the toilet resulted in a loud grinding noise, which I thought was going to wake the dead! I had a cup of tea and a hot chocolate, and finished three ‘breads of the chocolate’ that I’d bought in the Co-op.
I packed everything away, did a quick Womble round the room to ensure I’d not left anything, then made my way down the four flights of stairs to the front door. It was here I realised Clare had laid out a cold breakfast for me. Fruit and cereal, milk in a small fridge, etc. She’d also left a note wishing me well. I scribbled a quick reply, took a couple of the bananas and slunk out. It was 06.35.
The town was deathly quiet and a thick mist was hiding everything higher than the rooflines of the houses. I passed an old guy having a smoke outside the pub next door and we exchanged whispered greetings, then I was through the town and back to the cattle market.
I love being out early, and with today being my last day, I was also eager to get home. I’ve always been like that on the last day of any trip, even if it’s a long weekend away in the van – I just want the last day to be over, so I can get home. It frustrates the hell out of Chris, I know! I had the added incentive of seeing my granddaughter today. It’s also the last day of the football season, and City still need to win their last game to ensure a fourth successive Premier League title, so I needed to be home in time for kick off. There was only 12 miles to do though, and I’d told Roger I’d be with him between 11am and noon. I was really aiming for the earlier time though.
There are a surprising number of ups and downs today, and I met the first of these as I left the road and began the steep climb up Intake Hill. The mist was still lying heavily on the hill though, so I had no idea how long or steep the climb was. The ground was firm at least and the path is pretty well signed, so I just got my head down and slugged it out. Despite how early it was, I could see footprints in the dew on the grass, heading in my direction and at least two people. I never did see who they belonged to, but then they could have been 100 yards ahead of me, and I’d have been none the wiser.
I crossed the lovely section of open moorland, then passed Harter Fell, with its trig point and missed the view across to Kirkcarrion. I did see thousands of glistening spider webs, draped expectantly across the marsh grass. I upset the dogs in Wythes Hill Farm, who no doubt also upset the owners, but at least they were caged (the dogs, not the owners).
As I dropped down to Grassholme Reservoir, the mist thinned out a bit, and I began to get some longer views. They’re not especially inspiring views of course – this isn’t the most interesting section of the Pennine Way, but I’d take uninspiring views over no views any day! I crossed the bridge over the reservoir slightly in front of a large camper van that was just leaving the car park – the bridge is very narrow and I wasn’t prepared to squash myself against the wall to let it pass, so it grumbled behind me menacingly for a couple of minutes – and then struggled laboriously up the hill on the other side, only slightly faster than I managed it.
I bashed my finger quite badly, trying to release a poorly hung metal stock gate here and I cursed loudly for a minute. I’m sick of having to heave gates back onto their latches because they haven’t been hung properly. This one had smacked the release catch and trapped my finger for a moment – it hurt like fury. I was grumpy for a while. At the next stile I sat down and had my second breakfast, a banana and a Tunnocks Caramel Wafer and some of my juice – I was well on time for an 11am finish, so there was no need to rush. I think it was here that I saw the sun for the first time today – that cheered me up!
I dropped down to, and through Hannah’s Meadow and exchanged waves with a farmer on his quad bike, taking feed out to some sheep. There are some new looking duck boards and gates that allow visitors to bypass the cattle grids on the road through the meadow. It obviously gets a lot of foot traffic in the summer and I bet they’ve had a couple of people stick a leg in the grids and then complain about it.
As I passed Blackton Reservoir I met the first walker of the day. He was a strange chap – I’d seen him a good way ahead, coming towards me and I was trying to decide what he was carrying. It turned out he had two red carrier bags filled with stuff. It looked like he’d just come from the supermarket, but he was also wearing a small rucksack and he said he was walking the Pennine Way! He was heading for Middleton and I didn’t really understand where he said he’d walked from this morning. I once saw a guy walking Hadrian’s Wall with a carrier bag, but this was a new one for me. I wished him luck and then crossed the bridge and walked up to the Bowes Loop fingerpost.
When I first planned this walk, I had intended to stop in Bowes, so at this point I would have headed left, through Baldersdale. However, it was as easy for Roger to pick me up at the A66 layby as it was to meet in Bowes. The A66 pickup also meant I would be able to enjoy Cotherstone Moor, Deep Dale and Ravock and avoid the long stretch of tarmac into Bowes. So it was that I turned right at the fingerpost, and headed uphill to arrive at Clove Lodge. This had been a B&B last time I’d walked the route, but it was now a private residence. However, the owners have set aside a huge portion of their barn and turned it into an honesty café. There’s cold drinks, snacks, hot drink making facilities and chairs. If it’s raining you can sit inside out of the weather. I spent an enjoyable 10 minutes here – I didn’t need to buy anything, but I had an early elevensies, finishing my other banana and a couple of my biscuits. As I left, I met the owner and we chatted for a while. He was off out for a run, but I thanked him for the little oasis he’d created in the barn.
As I left the road beyond Clove Lodge and began the ascent of Cotherstone Moor I exchanged waves with a guy coming down to the road, he’d picked a slightly different path down from the moor, just like I did last time and hit the road a couple of hundred yards to the east. My feet were still mostly dry at this point, the boots had shrugged off whatever dew they’d collected, but they were now put to a tougher test. The climb up Cotherstone Moor is quite wet, but I knew I was finishing in a short while, so I really didn’t care – I just sploshed through the boggy sections, just trying to avoid going knee deep.
The path is fairly easy to follow, with a worn line in the moor and the occasional stake to mark the way. The cotton grass was out although it was still grey and overcast I thoroughly enjoyed this section. I was so glad I’d chosen this route. I had planned to divert across to pick up the trig point on West Hare Crag, as I’d avoided it on my previous visits, but as I approached Race Yate Rigg I decided to skip it once more. It would cost me a mile and probably 30-40 minutes and I thought I’d probably enjoy those more at home.
I dropped down across the moor to the shooting hut in Deep Dale, I had a quick look in the shelter room and then, final mile or so ahead of me, pushed on. The final hill of this walk is Ravock and I remember it fondly from my 2014 walk. It’s a heather-clad summit with huge views and a thin path winding its way between small cairns. I met another walker here – he’d left Tan Hill and was heading for Middleton. He said he’d avoided Sleightholme Moor at the recommendation of someone in Tan Hill – which seems like a great shame to me – it’s probably a bit wet right now, but no more so than what he was about to encounter on Cotherstone and it’s a quite lovely path, so much better than the road and the farm track.
A few minutes later and I was descending towards the A66. I could see Roger’s car in the layby and I waved in greeting. I turned right along the A66 and then cut through the underpass, where I met a guy heading the other way. He’d just been speaking to Roger, and knew who I was – he was out for a run, in training for the Summer Spine race and he was eager to be off, so I let him go. Five minutes later I was taking off wet boots and socks and getting into the dry ones I’d left in the boot, nine days ago. It was 11.06 – almost perfect timing!
We had a relaxing drive home, with no major little traffic delays – although there was plenty on the northbound carriageway, heading for Blackpool and the Lakes. We got home about 13:15 and I managed to get a shower and change into some fresh clothes before taking my granddaughter for a walk! I was pretty done in, but she wasn’t to know that, and I wasn’t prepared to miss out on it. City did what they needed to do – and all in all it turned out to be a perfect day!